Directional signal switch with flexible switch contact structure



United States Patent O anemia DIRECTINAL 'SGNAL SWI'ECH WETH FLEXE- BLESWTCHI CON'iACT 'SHQUETURE Edward L. Barcos and Eavid l. Clayton,Anderson, llnd., assignors to General Motors torporation, Detroit,Mich., a-corporationof Belau/are Filed July 19,1962, Ser. No. 298,6951'1 Claims. (Cl. Edil-61.34)

This invention relates to a switch and more particularly insulatingmaterial with a plurality of stationary contacts and iie'xible contactsmounted thereon and providing an actuator means for moving at least oneof the flexible contacts into selective engagement or disengagement withat least some of the other contacts. The invention is further ca-rriedout by providing a switch base of insulating material, a plurality of-stationary contact members mounted on the base, a iirst flexiblecontact engaging one of the stationary contact members, and a pair ofadditional ilexible contacts each in engagement with a stationarycontact member and both in engagement with a common stationary contactmember, and actuator means for etlecting selective movement of one ofthe pair oi iiexible contacts away from the common stationary contactinto engagement withI the rst liexiblecontact and another stationarycontact.

The above and other advantages will be made more apparent from thefollowing specication taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingin which:

FIGURE l is a partly broken away top view of a direction signal actuatorcontaining a switch constructed accord-ingto the invention;

n FIGURE 2v is a partly broken away side view of Fl"- URE l;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are top views of the switch according to theinventiomand FIGURE 5 is a bottom view oi the switch to the invention.

Referring now to FIGURES l and 2, direction signal housingltl is adaptedto be mounted on a vehicle steering column by conventional means, notshown. Located within the housing 1t) is a turn signal actuatormechanism comprisingV a molded plastic support portion 12 secured 'tothe housing it? by three screws 14 and a molded plastic crescent-shapedactuator 16 pivotally mounted on the support portion 12.

The molded actuator 16 includes a crescent-shaped body having adownwardly extending integral pivot pin 18 at its center and aK groove2t) near the pivot pin for receivingthe direction signal lever 22'.- Ascrew 24'secures the lever to the body. The pivot pin 18 seats in a bore21. in the support portion 12 and is` secured therein by a screwl andwasher assembly 23. Each end of the crescentshaped body carries aninwardly .turned pawl 26 attached to the'body by a` thin resilientsection 23. A yieldable stiiieningiingerflis spaced from and locatedinside each pawl. The paw-ls are arranged so that when the actuatorisyinits neutral position both pawls will be clear of a canceling cam,not shown, on the steering wheel. However, when the a-ctuator is pivotedto the richt or left, one of the pawlsv will be in the path ofl thecanceling cam. When the steering wheel is rotated in the direction ofthe according 3,200,212 Patented Aug. 10, 1965 indicated turn, thecanceling cam will touch the interfering pawl and move it asidemomentarily, but will not change the position of the actuator. When the.steering wheel is rotated in the other direction the cam will contactthe pawl 26 and push it against the stiiienin'g iinger 28. Then the pawlwill move no further with. respect to the actuator and the entireactuator will be forced back to neutral position by the canceling cam.If, for some reason, the actuatingplate becomes jammed and cannot move,then `the stiliening finger 23 and the pawl 26 will yield so thatcontinued rotation of the steering wheelv will be permitted. Each. endof the crescent-shaped body also carries a depending detent cam 32 whichengages an undulated detent spring 34 on the support portion 12. Whenthe actuating plateis in neutral position, each detent cam 32 will seatin the outer portion of the corresponding detent spring 34 and will beheld in that position until the direction signal lever 22 is movedmanually.v When the actuator is moved each cam 32 will likewise be movedto the right or left of the neutral position on the detent spring andwill be held .in its new position until the actuating plate is returnedto neutral either manually or by the canceling action `described above.

The support portion 12 contains a generally. rectangular opening 4t?which supports a switch 42. The actuator 16 has a depending switchactuator linger 44 integrally molded thereto. The actuator finger 44extends into the opening 4d to operate the switch. 42 when the actuatormember i6 is lrocked about its pivot axis.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, the switch 42. comprises a base. 46 ofinsulating material, preferably molded plastic,

having an upper surface 4S, a well portion 50, a pair of upwardlyprojecting integral pins or lugs 52, and an upwardly projecting integralrectangular block or lug 54. Molded into the base 46 are six metallicstationary contacts :i6-66 in the form of circular pins. Contacts 56 andSS are disposed on either side of the well 50. Contacts dil and 62 aredisposed at one end of the well on the center line of the switch whilethe iixed contacts 64 and 66 are disposed on either side of the switchcenter line but close to the contacts 6i) and 62. Each of the contactsis secured to an insulated conductor 68. The several conductors 68, asshown in FIGUR-E 5, are molded in the base material and are so arrangedas to emerge from the base equally spaced and in line. A pair offlexible l-shaped spring contacts 7) and 72 are mounted on the switchbase by having their ends 74 and 76, respectively, partially curledaround the pins S6 and S8, respectively, while each loop portion of theJ-shaped springs abuts the rectangular lug 54. The long leg- 7S or 8) ofeach l-shaped contact is iiexible and is resiliently biased intoelectrical contact or conductive engagement with a common stationarycontact 69. rThe extreme ends 79 and 8i of the flexible legs '78 and 30,respectively, are corrugated or otherwise formed into suitable contactsurfaces. A C-shaped ilexible spring contact S2 having outwardly curledends 34- .and 86 isl supported on the switch base 46 by being wrappedaround insulating lugs 52 and the stationary contact 62. To assure goodelectrical contact between @shaped spring contact 82 and stationarycontact 62, a leaf spring 8S has its ends supported against an end wallS9 of opening 40 of the support portion 12 and has its central portionengaging the spring Contact 82 toforce itnagainst stationary contact 62;It should further be noted that the contact pins 64 and 66 are alsoclose .to the legs 73 and Sil but that they are spaced further from thelegs 'fil and Sti than are `the curled portions 84 and 86 of thevContact 82. The actuator linger 44 which v depends from the actuator 16extends into the well 50 of the switch base and lies between the.l-shaped spring contacts '79 and 72.

Vpivot axis the actuator finger 44 moves within the well 50 intoengagement with either the leg 78 or leg 8@ of the'J-shaped contacts. Ifthe actuator finger 44 moves upwardly, as shown in FIGURE 4, it willengage the flexible leg 78 to move it away from contact pin 60 and thenwill cause Vengagement of legV 7S with end 84 of the spring contact S2,and subsequently, upon further movement will come into engagement withstationary contact 64. During this further movement the upper end of thespring S2 flexes to the extent that it becomes disengaged from the lug52. This flexing movement of spring S2 assures that the flexible leg 78can move far enough to engage contact 64 and thereby avoids the problemof hanging up, which occurs when it is attempted to cause one flexiblecontact to bridge two stationary contacts. In the latter case it is notuncommon for the flexible contact to make a good connection with onestationary contact but to make a poor connection or no connection withthe other. If .the actuator finger 44 is moved downwardly it will effecta similar movement of flexible leg S of contact '72 to break itsconnection with contact 60 and to make a connection first with end 86 ofspring contact 82, and subsequently, with stationary contact 66.

When the switch is to be used in a vehicle direction signal it should beconnected to the vehicle light circuits (not shown) as follows:stationary contacts d, 58 are connected to right and left stop lamps;contact 60 is connected to a brake switch; contact 62 is connected to adirection signal Vflasher; and contacts 64 and 66 are connected to rightand left front turn indicator lamps, respectively. Thus when the switchis in neutral position and the vehicle brakes are applied, a brakeswitch will be closed to energize contact 60 and hence energize bothstop lamps through spring contacts 70, 7,2 and contacts' 56, 58.However, when the actuator 16 is moved to its right turn operativeposition and the actuator finger 44 moves upwardly as shown in FIGURE 4,then the connection between the right stop lamp and the contact 60 isbroken and instead, the stop lamp is connected through contact 56,spring contact 70 and spring contact 82 tok the flasher contact 62thereby Ycausing flashing of the right stop lamp due to the intermittentenergization of contact 62 by the flasher. At the same time, due to theconnection of contact 64 to spring contact '70, the lright frontindicator lamp will 'also flash. It should be noted, however, that whenthe switch actuator finger moves to operative position the flexible leg7S engages the spring contact 82 prior to making a connection withcontact 64.

Hence the full load of the signal light system is not placed upon theflasher at one instant; rather, the load on the flasher is increasedgradually. This is particularly important in this specific applicationbecause when the signal lamp filaments are cold they have a very lowresistance and draw a large vload current.

It will readily be seen that this invention provides a simple, reliableand compact switch particularly suitable forfinstallation in adirec-tion signal actuator but useful in other applications as Well.

The Vembodiment of the invention described herein is kfor purposes ofillustration andthe scope of the invention is intended to be limitedonly by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A switch comprising a base of insulating material, a plurality ofstationary contact members mounted on the base, a first flexible contactmounted on the base in conductive engagement with a first stationarycontact member, a second flexible contact mounted on the base;

a fixed contact member closely spaced from the second with the firstflexible contact and the fixed contact member.

2. A switch comprising a .base of insulating material, a plurality ofstationary contact members mounted on the base, a first flexible contactmounted on the base in conductive engagement with a first stationarycontact member, a second flexible contact mounted on the base inconductive engagement with a second stationary contact member, afixedContact member closely spaced from the second flexible contact, andactuator means movable into engagement with the second flexible contactfor moving the second flexible contact into conductive engagement withthe first flexible contact and the fixed conflexible' contact, andactuator means movable into engag'ement with the second flexible contactfor moving the second flexible contact into conductive engagement tactmember.

3. A switch comprising a base of insulating material, a plurality ofstationary contact members mounted on the base, a first flexible contactmounted on the base in conductive engagement with a tir-st stationarycontact member, a second flexible contact ymember mounted on the baseinconductive engagement with a second stationary contact member andclosely spaced from the first flexible contact, a fixed contact memberspaced from the second flexible contact member `and further therefromthan is the first flexible contact, and'actuator means movable intoengagement with the second flexible contact for moving the secondflexible contact into conductive engagement with the first flexiblecontact and subsequently with the xed contact member.

4t. A switch comprising a base of insulating material, a plurality ofstationary Contact members mounted on the base, a first flexible contactmounted on the base in conductive engagement with a first stationaryContact member, a second flexible contact mounted on the'base in rigidengagement with a second stationary contact member and resilientlybiased into conductive engagement with another stationary contactmember, and actuator means movable into engagement with the secondflexible contact for moving the Isecond flexible contact away from thesaid another stationary contact member and into conductive engagementwith the first flexible contact.

5. A switch comprising a base of insulating material, a plurality ofstationary contact members mounted on the base, a first flexible contactmounted on the base in conductive engagement with a first stationarycontact member, a second flexible contact having a portion thereoffixedly mounted on the base and another portion thereof resilientlybia-sed into conductive engagement with another stationary contactmember, a fixed contact member closely spaced from the second flexiblecontact, and actuator Vmeans movable into engagement with the secondflexible contact for moving the second flexible contact away from thelsaid another stationary contact member and into conductive engagementwith the first flexible contact and the fixed contact member.

6. A switch comprising a base of insulating material, a first flexiblecontact mounted on the base in conductive engagement with a firststationary contact member, -a pair of flexible contacts mounted on thebase each in conductive engagement with other stationary contactmembers, and actuator means selectively movable into engagement witheither of the pair of flexible contacts for moving such flexible contactinto conductive engagement with the first flexible contact.

'7. A switch comprising a base of insulating material, a first flexiblecontact mounted on the base in conductive engagement with a firststationary contact member, a pair of flexible contacts each havingy aportion thereof fixedly mounted on lthe base, a pair of fixed ContactVmembers each closely spaced from either of the pair of ment with thefirst flexible contact and one of the pair.

of fixed contact members.

8. A switch comprising a base of insulating material, a first flexiblecontact mounted on the base in conductive engagement with a firststationary contact member, a pair of fiexible contacts mounted on thebase each in rigid conductive engagement with other stationary contactmembers and each biased into conductive engagement with a commonstationary contact, a pair of fixed contact members each closely spacedfrom one of the pair of flexible contacts, and actuator meansselectively movable into engagement with either of the pair of flexiblecontacts for moving `such flexible contact -into conductive engagementwith the rst flexible contact and one of the pair of fixed contacts :andfor moving such flexible contact away from the common stationarycontact.

9. A direction signal `switch comprising a base of Vinsulating materialincluding integral retaining lugs on one side thereof, a plurality ofcontact pins projecting from .the base on the same side as the retaininglugs, a C-shaped spring Contact resiliently engaging a contact pin and apair of lugs, a pair of J-shaped spring contacts each retained between aterminal pin and a lug and having a movable leg, a pair of contact pinseach closely spaced from a movable leg of one of the J-shaped contacts,and an actuator member disposed between the movable legs and adapted toselectively move each of the movable legs into engagement with an end ofthe C-shaped contact and with one of the pair of contact pins.

10. A direction signal switch comprising a base of insulating materialincluding integral retaining lugs on one side thereof, a plurality ofcontact pins projecting 'from the base on the same side as the retaininglugs, a C-shaped spring contact resiliently engaging a contact pin and apair of lugs, -a pair of J-shaped spring contacts each retained betweena terminal pin and a lug and hav ing a movable resilient leg closelyspaced from an end of the C-shaped contact and resiliently biased towarda common contact pin, a pair of contact pins each closely spaced from amovable leg of one of the J-sllaped contacts, and an actuator memberdisposed between the movable legs and adapted to selectively move eachof the movable legs into engagement with an end of the C-shaped contactand with one of the pair of contact pins.

11. A direction signal switch comprising a base of inl sulating materialincluding integral retaining lugs on one side thereof, a plurality ofcontact pins projecting from the base on the same side as the retaininglugs, an electrical conductor secured to each of the contact pins, aC-shaped spring contact resiliently engaging a contact pin and a pair oflugs, a pair of I-shaped spring contacts each retained between aterminal pin and a lug and having a movable resilient leg closely spacedfrom an end of the @shaped contact and resiliently biased toward acommon contact pin, a pair of contact pins each closely spaced from amavable leg of one of the J-shaped contacts, -a well in the base betweenthe J-shaped contacts, and an insulated actuator member disposed in thewell between the movable legs and adapted to selectively move each ofthe movable legs away from the common contact pin and into engagementfirst with an end of the C-shaped contact and subsequently with one ofthe pair of contact pins.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,399,505 12/21McIVer. mr2,412,384 12/46 Beattie et al. 200-6 -2,739,l98 3/56 Happe etal. 1200-6 X 2,808,479 10/57 Buchmann 20G-61.27 X 2,999,911 9/61 Dryeret al. 20G-61.34

BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner.

1. A SWITCH COMPRISING A BASE OF INSULATING MATERIAL, A PLURALITY OFSTATIONARY CONTACT MEMBERS MOUNTED ON THE BASE, A FIRST STATIONARYCONTACT CONDUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH A FIRST STATIONARY CONTACT MEMBER, ASECOND FLEXIBLE CONTACT MOUNTED ON THE BASE, A FIXED CONTACT MEMBERCLOSELY SPACED FROM THE SECND